:Zambia women's national under-17 football team

Zambia women's national under-17 football team is nicknamed the Junior She-polopolo.{{cite web|url=http://allafrica.com/stories/201203161455.html |title=Zambia/Nigeria: Jnr She-Polopolo Confident of Flamingoes Game |publisher=allAfrica.com |date=16 March 2012 |access-date=16 April 2012}} The team's official kit colours include green shorts, a green jersey and green socks.{{cite web|url=http://www.cafonline.com/association/zambia/information |title=Football Association of Zambia (FAZ) – Information – Zambia – CAF |publisher=Cafonline.com |access-date=16 April 2012}} Women's football was formally organised by the Football Association of Zambia in 1983. Since that time, Zambia has created a women's senior national team and an under-20 team. Women's football continues to be supported by the national federation who have budgeted money for the women's game and youth game.{{cite web|access-date=16 April 2012|publisher=FIFA|url=https://www.fifa.com/mm/goalproject/zam_eng.pdf|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20120416231424/http://www.fifa.com/mm/goalproject/zam_eng.pdf|url-status=dead|archive-date=16 April 2012|date=21 April 2009|page=4|title=Goal! Football: Zambia}} In 2009, there were 100 women's teams for players over 16, and 112 youth women's teams for players under 16.

Women's football in Africa as a whole faces problems that include limited access to education, poverty amongst women in the wider society, and fundamental inequality present in the society that occasionally allows for female specific human rights abuses.{{cite book|author=Jean Williams|title=A Beautiful Game: International Perspectives on Women's Football|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=VuIp04RvKX8C&pg=PA157|access-date=13 April 2012|date=15 December 2007|publisher=Berg|isbn=978-1-84520-674-1|page=186}} When quality football players are produced in Africa, often they leave the country to seek greater opportunities elsewhere, to the detriment of the local game.{{cite book|author=Gabriel Kuhn|title=Soccer Vs. the State: Tackling Football and Radical Politics|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=BwmsLxiWvnwC&pg=PA34|access-date=13 April 2012|date=24 February 2011|publisher=PM Press|isbn=978-1-60486-053-5|page=34}} Funding also is a problem for the women's game in Africa, with most of the funding for women's football in the Africa coming from FIFA, not the local national football association.

Zambia women's national under-17 football team has competed in several competitions representing their country, including in the qualifying part of the FIFA U-17 World Cup, and the African Women U-17 Championships.

The team participated in the 2008, 2010 and 2012 African qualification tournaments for the FIFA U-17 World Cup.{{cite web|url=https://www.rsssf.org/tablesw/wc-wom-u17.html |title=Women U-17 World Cup |publisher=Rsssf.com |date=31 March 2011 |access-date=13 April 2012}} Zambia women's national under-17 football team participated in the 2008 African Women U-17 Championship. In the preliminary round, they played Ghana women's national under-17 football team. In the 3 February match in Lusaka, they lost 0–2. In the 17 February match in Accra, Zambia lost 0–4.{{cite web|url=https://www.rsssf.org/tablesa/afr-wom-u17-08.html |title=African Women U-17 Championship 2008 |publisher=Rsssf.com |date=25 February 2011 |access-date=13 April 2012}}{{cite web|url=http://www.cafonline.com/competition/can-u-17-women_2010/pastcomp/2008 |title=Regulations – CAN U-17 women 2010 – CAF |publisher=Cafonline.com |access-date=16 April 2012}}

The 2012 season coach was Beauty Mwamba. The assistant coach was Angela Sunga.{{cite web|url=http://ezambiablog.com/zambia-harambe-beatable-she-polopolo |title=Zambia: Harambe beatable – She-polopolo |publisher=Ezambiablog.com |date=27 February 2012 |access-date=16 April 2012}} This team competed in the Confederation of African Football qualifiers for the FIFA U-17 World Cup that will be held in Azerbaijan in September 2012. They did not advance out of their region.{{cite web|url=https://www.fifa.com/u17womensworldcup/qualifiers/index.html |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20080711070916/http://www.fifa.com/u17womensworldcup/qualifiers/index.html |url-status=dead |archive-date=11 July 2008 |title=FIFA U-17 Women's World Cup: Qualifiers |publisher=FIFA.com |access-date=13 April 2012}} In the early rounds, Zambia played Botswana women's national under-17 football team in Gaborone, beating them 5–1. In the return match against Botswana in Lusaka, Zambia won 2–0. During qualification, Zambia played Nigeria, losing 1–2 at home and 0–5 in Nigeria.{{cite web|url=http://www.leadership.ng/nga/articles/18776/2012/03/11/flamingoes_defeat_zambia%E2%80%99s_she-polopolo.html |title=Flamingoes Defeat Zambia's 'She-Polopolo' | Leadership Newspapers |publisher=Leadership.ng |access-date=16 April 2012}}{{cite web|url=http://tribune.com.ng/index.php/sports/38499-give-us-world-cup-maigari-charges-flamingoes |title=Give us World Cup Maigari charges Flamingoes |publisher=Tribune.com.ng |date=30 March 2012 |access-date=14 April 2012}}{{cite web|url=http://www.supersport.com/football/nigeria/news/120313/Goodbye_ShePolopolo_Okaeme |title=Goodbye She-Polopolo — Okaeme — SuperSport — Football |publisher=SuperSport |access-date=16 April 2012}}{{cite web|url=http://www.supersport.com/football/article.aspx?Id=1300631 |title=Duo out of She-Polopolo clash — SuperSport — Football |publisher=SuperSport |access-date=16 April 2012}}{{cite web|url=http://www.mtnfootball.com/africa/ghana/news/2012/march/23-ghana-u17-ladies-thump-south-africa.html |title=Maidens thump SA 17 Women for WC slot |publisher=MTNFootball |access-date=16 April 2012}} Zambian officials suspected that the Nigerian team cheated by having age ineligible players on their squad. The national federation would have liked to appear the decision but it would have cost US$2,000 (K10 million) and they did not have the money to make the appeal. The loss also brought to question continued support by the Football Association of Zambia to support the team.{{cite news|url=http://www.daily-mail.co.zm/?p=268 |title=Vanquished U-17 girls lament |work=Zambia Daily Mail|date=28 March 2012 |access-date=14 April 2012}}

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• Zambia women's national football team
• Zambia women's national under-20 football team
• Zambia men's national under-17 football team
• Zambia men's national under-20 football team

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{{Football in Zambia}}

{{National sports teams of Zambia}}

{{CAF women's under-17 teams}}

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Category:African women's national under-17 association football teams